Yohn's Estate, In re
Decision Date | 29 July 1970 |
Docket Number | No. 39343,39343 |
Citation | 238 So.2d 290 |
Parties | In re ESTATE of Carl Sylvester YOHN, Deceased. |
Court | Florida Supreme Court |
Donald H. Partington, of Harrell, Wiltshire, Bozeman, Clark and Stone, Pensacola, for petitioner.
John M. Coe, of Coe & Coe, Pensacola, for respondent.
By petition for certiorari, we have for review a decision of the District Court of Appeal, First District (In Re Estate of Yohn, 229 So.2d 612), which allegedly conflicts with a prior decision of this Court (Roberts v. Roberts, 124 Fla. 116, 167 So. 808) on the same point of law. Fla.Const., art. V, § 4, F.S.A.
The question is whether the first wife, Myrtle Paul Yohn, or the second wife, Margaret Fillingim Yohn, is the lawful widow of Carl S. Yohn.
Carl Yohn married his first wife in Mississippi during the year 1955. A child, Jack Bert Yohn, was born in 1956. Carl, a resident of Pensacola, Escambia County, Florida, had been in the service and upon his discharge visited his mother in Chicago. In 1957, the first wife, apparently without cause, left him and went to the west coast of the United States, taking the child with her. She had no further contact with her husband during his lifetime.
Carl Yohn lived in Chicago during 1957 and 1958 and obtained employment there. However, he considered his home as being in Pensacola, Florida. His general occupation was that of a seaman and he was sometimes employed on a dredge boat or a tug boat. The record shows that he was employed for some time in Biloxi, Mississippi.
In 1961, Carl Yohn filed a complaint in Escambia County, Florida, seeking a divorce from his first wife. He made the required allegation that he was unable to ascertain the residence of his first wife after diligent search and inquiry and secured service by publication. A decree pro confesso was entered July 21, 1961. This action was subsequently dismissed on May 11, 1964 for want of prosecution.
In 1965, Carl Yohn stated he was 'as free as the breeze' and that he was not a married man. On January 17, 1966, he applied for a marriage license and stated under oath that he had previously been married once and was divorced. On this date he married his second wife.
Carl died on June 19, 1967, and letters of administration were issued by the County Judge of Escambia County, Florida, to the second wife.
A petition was then filed by Jack Bert Yohn, a minor, by his grandmother as next friend. It was alleged that he was the son of the decedent, having been born of the marriage between the decedent and Myrtle Paul. It appeared from the petition that the principal asset of the estate consisted of a claim for damages arising from the wrongful death of the decedent, for the recovery of which an action had been instituted by the administratrix and was then pending in Alabama, the state wherein Carl Yohn died. The petition suggested that the second wife may not be the lawful widow of the decedent and prayed that the Court inquire into the question of whether the second wife administratrix was the lawful wife of the decedent at the time of his death.
Both the first wife and the second wife appeared at the hearings before the County Judge, each asserting her status as the lawful wife of the decedent. At the hearings before the County Judge, the ceremonial marriage to the first wife was attacked because Myrtle Paul, the first wife, had previously entered into a common-law marriage with James Johnson. The evidence pertaining to this question is discussed in the opinion of the District Court of Appeal.
The County Judge held that the second wife was the lawful widow. In a separate order, Jackie Yohn was adjudged to be an heir of the deceased. The latter order is not contested.
On appeal, the District Court held there was a fatal deficiency in the evidence which precluded a judicial determination that a common-law marriage was contracted and entered into by the first wife Myrtle and James Johnson. The Court then said:
(Emphasis supplied.) 229 So.2d 612, 616.
In discussing the testimony of the first wife, Myrtle Paul, the District Court of Appeal observed:
(p. 614)
In Roberts v. Roberts, Supra, this Court enunciated the standards concerning the burden or quantum of proof where conflict in marriages are involved, saying:
(Emphasis supplied.) (167 So. pp. 809--810)
The District Court of Appeal in its opinion in the case Sub judice relied upon Quinn v. Miles, 124 So.2d 883 (Fla.App.1st, 1960), where the Court said:
'It has been repeatedly held that if the records of the State Bureau of Vital Statistics fail to disclose any divorce by the decedent against his wife during the period of their separation, such evidence will be sufficient proof that no such divorce was ever procured, and likewise sufficient to rebut the presumption of validity attaching to the subsequent marriage of decedent.' (p. 886)
In Quinn v. Miles, Supra, the husband apparently had no grounds for divorce and resided in the State of Florida during all of his life.
The decisions have been in conflict on whether the first wife must show the absence of grounds for divorce in order to overcome the presumption of validity of the latest marriage. We take jurisdiction.
In discussing the rules previously announced concerning the presumptions and burden of proof involved in attacking the legality of the last marriage, this Court in Teel v. Nolen Brown Motors, 93 So.2d 874 (Fla.1957), said:
(Emphasis supplied.) (p. 876)
In Johnson v. Johnson, 51 So.2d 421 (Fla.1951), Mary, the first wife, introduced a certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics, showing that no divorce had been reported for the deceased. The Court held that Mary had rebutted the presumption of validity existing in favor of the second wife's marriage to the deceased. However, the Court discussed the testimony as follows:
(Emphasis supplied.) (p. 422)
In Hillyer & Lovan v. Florida Industrial Commission, 155 Fla. 144, 19 So.2d 838 (1944), the first wife introduced a certificate from the Bureau of Vital Statistics showing that no divorce had been granted in Florida. Documentary evidence to the same effect was introduced from the states of North Carolina and Tennessee, where the husband had worked 'at short intervals.' In addition, the evidence showed that the whereabouts of the first wife were known at all times by the deceased. These circumstances rebutted the presumption of validity of the second marriage.
In the first appearance of King v. Keller, 117 So.2d 726 (Fla.1960), the only...
To continue reading
Request your trial-
Sheffield v. Superior Ins. Co.
...Cardelle v. Cardelle, 645 So.2d 22, 23 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994). See Firestone v. Firestone, 263 So.2d 223 (Fla.1972); In re Estate of Yohn, 238 So.2d 290 (Fla. 1970); Walton v. Walton, 290 So.2d 110 (Fla. 3d DCA 1974); Goodman v. Goodman, 204 So.2d 21, 21 (Fla. 4th DCA 1967). Here parts of the p......
-
Connor v. Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center, Inc.
...for thousands of years and is the most important type of contract ever formed.' " Id. at 465 (quoting In re Estate of Yohn, 238 So.2d 290, 296 (Fla.1970) (Boyd, J., specially concurring)) (holding that pretermitted spouse's interest was not subject to the interests of the testator's childre......
-
City of Miami Springs v. J.J.T., Inc.
...advanced by J.J.T. to see if they will support the judgment. See, e.g., Firestone v. Firestone, 263 So.2d 223 (Fla.1972); In re Estate of Yohn, 238 So.2d 290 (Fla.1970); Bergen v. Carson, 417 So.2d 1080 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982). J.J.T.'s contention that the ordinance is void for vagueness is tot......
-
State v. Stephens
...incorrect reason is given by the trial court for its holding. See Vandergriff v. Vandergriff, 456 So.2d 464 (Fla.1984); In re Yohn's Estate, 238 So.2d 290 (Fla.1970); MacNeill v. O'Neal, 238 So.2d 614 (Fla.1970); Carraway v. Armour & Co., 156 So.2d 494 (Fla.1963); Cohen v. Mohawk, Inc., 137......
-
Tipping the ole tipsy coachman over in his grave: an inequity of appellate review.
...5th D.C.A. 1991)); Sybert v. Combs, 555 So. 2d 1313, 1314 (Fla. 5th D.C.A. 1990) (Sharp, J., dissenting) (citing In re Yohn's Estate, 238 So. 2d 290 (Fla. 1970); MacNeil v. O'Neal, 238 So. 2d 614 (Fla. 1970); Cohen v. Mohawk, Inc., 137 So. 2d 222 (Fla. 1962); Greenbriar Condo. Apts. II Asso......
-
Tales of the tipsy coachman: being right for the wrong reason: the tipsy coachman is alive and well and living in Florida.
...its own determination as to the correctness of the decision of the lower court, regardless of the reasons or theories assigned therefor." 238 So. 2d 290, 295 (Fla. 1970). Stated another way, if a trial court reaches the right result, but for the wrong reasons, it will be upheld if there is ......